Volvo unveils a new safety belt that automatically adjusts to each passenger's characteristics, reducing injury risk like collarbone fractures in crashes. Debuts in EX60 crossover.
© Volvo
Volvo has unveiled a new safety belt system that automatically adjusts to each passenger's individual characteristics. Called the Multi-Adaptive Safety Belt, this technology aims to reduce injury risk, including collarbone fractures that can occur from excessive tension during a crash.
Modern seat belts already significantly decrease the likelihood of serious accident consequences, but their performance doesn't always optimally account for differences in people's body types. Volvo's new development analyzes passenger parameters and selects the appropriate pre-tensioning level to balance body restraint with minimizing chest load.
The system will debut in the EX60 crossover. Initially, there will be 11 pre-set operating modes from which the electronics automatically choose the optimal one. Later, after a software update, the adjustment range is planned to be significantly expanded. Camera and sensor data from the cabin, assessing passenger height, weight, and position, are used to determine parameters.
The company emphasizes that this development has become one of the key elements of next-generation safety. Since the system requires changes to the vehicle's construction, it cannot be implemented through software updates in already-released models—the technology will spread with the launch of new generations of the brand's vehicles.